Nearly one in four college students surveyed believes America deserved the September 11 terrorist attacks. For those of us who lived through that horrifying day, the results are not just disturbing. They are heartbreaking.
I remember September 11, 2001.
I remember watching the second plane strike the World Trade Center. I remember the smoke, the flames, the people desperately waving from windows, and the horrifying sight of human beings jumping from buildings because the alternative was burning alive.
I remember the towers collapsing. The firefighters running toward certain danger. The faces of terrified Americans who had no idea whether another attack was coming.
And I remember the phone calls.
The heartbreaking voicemails left by husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers who knew they might never see their families again. Their final words weren’t about politics or foreign policy.
They were telling their families, “I love you.”
Now, 25 years later, a Buckley Institute survey reveals that 21.8% of American college students surveyed agree that America deserved September 11.
Are you kidding me?
Nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered that day. They weren’t politicians making foreign policy decisions. They were secretaries, firefighters, police officers, flight attendants, parents, and children.
They were ordinary Americans who expected to come home that evening.
And somehow, we’ve raised a generation in which more than one in five surveyed students believes their country deserved that horror.
As a devout Catholic, I find that morally repulsive.
America is not perfect. Our country has made mistakes, committed injustices, and endured terrible chapters in its history. But no political grievance justifies the deliberate slaughter of innocent human beings.
The Catholic Church teaches that every human life is sacred. That truth doesn’t change because someone dislikes America.
And the rest of this poll is hardly reassuring.
According to the survey, 41.6% of students would prefer socialism over capitalism, while 47% believe countries like Cuba and the former Soviet Union offer a better economic model than the United States.
Have we forgotten the religious persecution, political prisoners, and oppression suffered under communist regimes? As Catholics, we should know better than to romanticize governments that suppressed religious freedom.
Then there’s free speech.
Nearly 40% believe offensive speech should be criminally prosecuted, and an astonishing 44.6% agreed that physical violence could be justified to stop someone from expressing hateful views.
So much for tolerance.
Another 26.4% selected a response suggesting that Charlie Kirk’s assassination should not have been surprising because of his rhetoric. That answer does not necessarily mean they approved of his murder, but it reflects a deeply troubling willingness to frame political violence as a consequence of someone’s words.
And when asked about Israel and Palestine, more students chose Palestine as America’s better ally. We can and should care about innocent Palestinians while defending innocent Israelis and condemning terrorism. Human dignity is not determined by which side of a political conflict someone belongs to.
The survey did offer one encouraging result: 53.5% of students recognized that allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports raises legitimate fairness concerns because of the biological differences between men and women.
At least on that issue, a majority recognized a basic truth that should never have become controversial. Men and women are biologically different, and protecting fairness in women’s sports should not be considered an extreme position. As Catholics, we believe God created us male and female, and acknowledging that reality should not require an apology.
The survey also found that half of respondents selected a deeply pessimistic view of America’s progress toward racial equality.
These are complicated issues deserving serious discussion. But too often, our culture seems more interested in outrage and ideological loyalty than historical understanding and moral clarity.
What troubles me most is the growing willingness to excuse cruelty when the victims are people we disagree with.
That is not justice. That is moral failure.
I remember the America that emerged after September 11.
I remember the flags hanging from homes, the packed churches, the candlelight vigils, and the overwhelming sense that we were one nation grieving together.
We weren’t asking whether the people trapped in those towers were Republicans or Democrats.
We were praying they would survive.
The students who answered this poll were not alive to witness that day. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy for some to reduce September 11 to a political argument.
But those of us who remember have a responsibility to tell them the truth.
Show them the footage. Let them hear those final voicemails. Tell them about the children who grew up without parents and the families who never received a final goodbye.
Teach them that loving America doesn’t mean ignoring its flaws. It means recognizing its blessings, confronting its failures, and refusing to excuse evil.
Because I cannot imagine looking into the eyes of a mother who lost her son in the Twin Towers and telling her that America deserved what happened.
America did not deserve September 11.
Those firefighters deserved to come home. Those passengers deserved to land safely. Those parents deserved to see their children grow up.
And nearly 3,000 innocent human beings deserved to live.
If our colleges are producing young adults who cannot recognize that simple moral truth, we have a much bigger problem than politics.
May God have mercy on our nation, and may we never forget the innocent lives stolen on September 11, 2001.
Your support brings the truth to the world.
Catholic Online News exists because of donors like you. We are 100% funded by people who believe the world deserves real, uncensored news rooted in faith and truth — not corporate agendas. Your gift ensures millions can continue to access the news they can trust — stories that defend life, faith, family, and freedom.
When truth is silenced, your support speaks louder.
